It’s time for your company’s annual conference. You dread it each year because it’s always held in that drab meeting facility down the road from the office. Worn out chairs organized in rows and a dimly lit room with temps great for napping. At the end of the day, what do you go home with? Nothing but a “Hello! My name is “_____” sticker that you forgot to get rid of from your shirt and a new discovered acquaintance with the back of your eyelids. Not all meeting facilities are made equal so why not choose someplace bigger and better? Meetings can be in new and fun areas that get you from the everyday grind and into an atmosphere contributing to learning and productivity. Now, the question is-where to go?
Location is everything. Some companies choose to travel to exotic places like the Bahamas while others choose ski resorts. Meeting facilities can be discovered just about anyplace so find a place where your coworkers can have fun between meetings as well as a meeting facility that is useful for your company’s needs. “We like any place that is interesting or has interesting things to go see or do. We pick sites that our members enjoy going to, places where they can do things besides the convention,” said Flo Makifske, NTA (National Tattoo Association) treasurer and convention coordinator. Take a ballot and come to a common consensus of which your coworkers like or where they’d enjoy to go and you have your new assembly destination.
The beautiful thing regarding meeting facilities is that the possibilities are limitless. If your company is on a small price range and a company trip to the Bahamas is out of the question, holding your following big assembly on a school campus just might be your next best option. It is more reasonably priced than traditional hotels and resorts and is starting to be popular for meetings. In the year 2009, the Association of Collegiate Conferences and Events Directors-International reported that “college-based meetings and conferences brought in $1.04 billion in revenue.” Lecture rooms act as a great meeting facility because they are state of the art and have the capability to hold big crowds. Not to mention that the cash invested on the conference goes back to the establishment that serves the community.
Different companies or associations have various needs so it is important to locate a meeting facility that caters to your company’s needs. Cities like Reno, NV need to be prepared for the International Juggler’s Association’s (IJA) annual visit. Kim Laird, IJA Chairwoman, said “We’re a very unusual group in that we need a gym area, a wide open space or banquet room that doesn’t have chandeliers in it. We need high ceilings and at least five other rooms we can use for the workshops we run.” There are meeting facilities that can cater to groups of 30, 300 and even 3,000 and can provide music and visual, banquet or catering services, service workers or whatever you want make this the finest assembly your company has ever had.
Technology dominates our lives. We have become dependent on our smart phones, laptops, and various wireless devices. We feel lost and alone devoid of them so when looking for a meeting facility, picking one with Wi-Fi, preferably complimentary, will be essential. The Alliant Energy Center’s Ted Ballweg stated, “People coming to meetings need be connected, need it quick, and need it everywhere. For some people, no Wi-Fi access is an annoyance.” Getting easily available internet is not the only important thing to consider. If you will be presenting a slideshow or need some sort of sound and video, you will need to look at meeting facilities that have an audio and visual team that is proficient and can answer any of your questions.
